Researching children's rights globally in the digital age: Overview, context, aims, challenges

Embedding children’s rights in policy-making: lessons from research and evidence gaps

Sonia Livingstone, Media@LSE

s.livingstone@lse.ac.ukLivingstone_S

www.eukidsonline.net

From 2006-09, as a thematic network of 21 countries, EU Kids Online identified and evaluated the findings of nearly 400 research studies to draw out substantive, methodological and policy implications.

From 2009-11, as a knowledge enhancement project across 25 countries, the network surveyed 25,000 children and parents to produce original, rigorous data on online opportunities and risk of harm.

From 2011-14, the network expanded to 33 countries to conduct targeted analyses of the quantitative survey and new qualitative interviews with children.

In 2015, network coordination passed from Department of Media and Communications at LSE to the Hans Bredow Institute for Media Research, University of Hamburg.

See www.eukidsonline.net

Nearly a decade of research(funded by EC Better Internet for Kids)

Net Children Go Mobile replicated parts of EU Kids Online’s qualitative and quantitative research in selected countries in 2011-14.

See www.netchildrengomobile.eu

Findings • methods • recommendations

See http://goo.gl/3JJBbU for our YouTube playlist of 75 videos in most EU languages.

What do we know or not know?

Ladder of opportunities

Listening to children’s concerns

Usage ActivitiesRisk

factors

Harmor

coping

INDIVIDUAL USER

SOCIAL MEDIATION

NATIONAL CONTEXT

Parents School Peers

Child as unit of analysis

Country as unit of analysis

Demographic

Psychological

Culturalvalues

Socio-economicstratification

Regulatoryframework

Educationsystem

Technologicalinfrastructure

Usage ActivitiesRisk

factors

Harmor

coping

INDIVIDUAL USER

SOCIAL MEDIATION

NATIONAL CONTEXT

Parents School Peers

Child as unit of analysis

Country as unit of analysis

Demographic

Psychological

Culturalvalues

Socio-economicstratification

Regulatoryframework

Educationsystem

Technologicalinfrastructure

Usage ActivitiesRisk

factors

Harmor

coping

INDIVIDUAL USER

SOCIAL MEDIATION

NATIONAL CONTEXT

Parents School Peers

Child as unit of analysis

Country as unit of analysis

Demographic

Psychological

Culturalvalues

Socio-economicstratification

Regulatoryframework

Educationsystem

Technologicalinfrastructure

European diversity

Models of comparison

Nation as object of study: idiographic, seeing our own and others’ countries better through contrasting cases

Nation as context of study: testing hypothesised generalities across countries to examine claims of universal phenomena

Nation as unit of analysis: seeking systematic relations among a priori dimensions on which countries vary, each serving as source of data

Nation as component of transnational system: comparing countries systematically related as a result of an underlying process

(Melvin Kohn, Cross-national research in sociology 2009)

Putting ideas into practice

Country report 1

Country report 2

Country report 3

Country report 4

RQ1 RQ2 RQ3 RQ4

C1

C2

C3

C4

National teams write country reports that answer

a set of research questionsNation as

object of study

(Sonia Livingstone and Uwe Hasebrink, Designing a European project, 2010

Practice gets complicated

RQ1 RQ2 RQ3 RQ4

C1

C2

C3

C4

Country report 1

Country report 2

Country report 3

Country report 4

Different researchers analyse single research questions

across countries

Com-pari-son 1

Com-pari-son 2

Com-pari-son 3

Com-pari-son 4

If similarities - nation as context of study (claim universals?)

If differences - nation as unit of analysis (need external indicators)

But what about ‘the nation’?

Ethnos - The ethno-cultural nation

• Maps identity and culture onto nation by prioritising belonging, trust and efficacy generated by a homogenous & committed imagined community

• But problem of global flows, diversity, migration, instability

Cosmos - The community of communities

• Maps the kaleidoscope of variety and contrast, embracing diversity, difference, flux, even cosmopolitanism

• Responds to the critique of the ethno-cultural nation, but more description than explanation

Demos - The civic/democratic nation

• Replaces cultural homogeneity with political/administrative culture of social rights & inclusivity

• Invites strategic questions of priorities, of targeting structures that may effect change

(Kevin Robins, Becoming anybody 2001)

ActivitiesLiteraciesStrategies

AffordancesDesignPractices

Benefits and harms that affect

well-being

SOCIAL RESOURCES& MEDIATORS

SOCIETAL CONDITIONS

Outcomes

Digital ecology

User-led

Family EducatorsPeers andcommunity

Cultural values, norms, practices

Educationsystem

Technological and regulatory infrastructures

Structures of inclusion and inequality

IdentitiesExperiencesCapacities

Children

Opportunitiesand risks

INDIVIDUAL

ActivitiesLiteraciesStrategies

AffordancesDesignPractices

Benefits and harms that affect

well-being

SOCIAL RESOURCES& MEDIATORS

SOCIETAL CONDITIONS

Outcomes

Digital ecology

User-led

Family EducatorsPeers andcommunity

Cultural values, norms, practices

Educationsystem

Technological and regulatory infrastructures

Structures of inclusion and inequality

IdentitiesExperiencesCapacities

Children

Opportunitiesand risks

INDIVIDUAL

ActivitiesLiteraciesStrategies

AffordancesDesignPractices

Benefits and harms that affect

well-being

SOCIAL RESOURCES& MEDIATORS

SOCIETAL CONDITIONS

Outcomes

Digital ecology

User-led

Family EducatorsPeers andcommunity

Cultural values, norms, practices

Educationsystem

Technological and regulatory infrastructures

Structures of inclusion and inequality

IdentitiesExperiencesCapacities

Children

Opportunitiesand risks

INDIVIDUAL

ActivitiesLiteraciesStrategies

AffordancesDesignPractices

Benefits and harms that affect

well-being

SOCIAL RESOURCES& MEDIATORS

SOCIETAL CONDITIONS

Outcomes

Digital ecology

User-led

Family EducatorsPeers andcommunity

Cultural values, norms, practices

Educationsystem

Technological and regulatory infrastructures

Structures of inclusion and inequality

IdentitiesExperiencesCapacities

Children

Opportunitiesand risks

INDIVIDUAL

Design shapes practice and literacy follows (or doesn’t)

Positive affordances could build great digital literacies

Beyond the global North

Internet use is changing

A wider evidence base

UNCRC

Protection from any kind of discrimination (Art.2), all forms of abuse and neglect (Art. 19), including sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (Art. 34), and other forms of exploitation prejudicial to the child’s welfare (Art. 36), from ‘information and material injurious to the child’s well-being’ (Art. 17e), ‘arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, or correspondence [and] unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation’ (Art. 16)

Provision to support children’s rights to life and development (Art.6), to preserve his or her identity (Art. 8), to an education to support the development of their full potential (Art. 28) and prepare them ‘for responsible life in a free society’ (Art. 29), to recreation and leisure appropriate to their age (Art. 31), to diverse material of social and cultural benefit to the child (including minorities) to promote children’s well-being (Art. 17) and all appropriate measures for recovery from neglect, exploitation or abuse (Art.39)

Participation: ‘In all actions concerning children… the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’ (Art. 3), including the right of children to be consulted in all matters affecting them (Art. 12), to freedom of expression (Art. 13) , freedom of thought (Art.14), of association and assembly (Art. 15), to information (Art.17) and to participate fully in cultural life (Art.31)

CRC Issues for the digital age Protection from any kind of discrimination (Art.2), all forms of abuse and neglect (Art. 19), including sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (Art. 34), and other forms of exploitation prejudicial to the child’s welfare (Art. 36), from ‘information and material injurious to the child’s well-being’ (Art. 17e), ‘arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, or correspondence [and] unlawful attacks on his/ her honour and reputation’ (Art. 16)

• Sexual grooming and sexual exploitation• Creation and distribution of child abuse images• Online dimensions of child trafficking• New threats to privacy, identity and reputation• Availability of (diverse, extreme) pornography• Personal data exploitation, misuse, tracking• Hostility, hate and bullying content and conduct• Persuasion re: self-harm, suicide, pro-anorexia,

drugs

Provision to support children’s rights to life and development (Art.6), to preserve his or her identity (Art. 8), to an education to support the development of their full potential (Art. 28) and prepare them ‘for responsible life in a free society’ (Art. 29), to recreation and leisure appropriate to their age (Art. 31), to diverse material of social and cultural benefit to the child (incl. minorities) to promote children’s well-being (Art. 17) and measures for recovery from neglect, exploitation or abuse (Art.39)

• Formal and informal learning resources and curricula

• Wealth of accessible and specialised information• Opportunities for creativity, exploration,

expression • Digital and information skills and literacies• Ways to counter traditional inequalities or

problems• Expanded array of entertainment and leisure

choices• Access to/representation in own culture and

heritageParticipation: ‘In all actions concerning children the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’ (Art. 3), incl. the right of children to be consulted in all matters affecting them (Art. 12), to freedom of expression (Art. 13) , freedom of thought (Art.14), of association and assembly (Art. 15), to information (Art.17) and to participate fully in cultural life (Art.31)

• Enhanced connections and networking opportunities

• Scalable ways of consulting children about governance

• User-friendly fora for child/youth voice and expression

• Child-led initiatives for local and global change• Peer-2-peer connections for sharing and

collaboration• Recognition of child rights and responsibilities

CRC Evidence Internet Rights & Principles CoalitionProtection from any kind of discrimination (Art.2), all forms of abuse and neglect (Art. 19), including sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (Art. 34), and other forms of exploitation prejudicial to the child’s welfare (Art. 36), from ‘information and material injurious to the child’s well-being’ (Art. 17e), ‘arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, or correspondence [and] unlawful attacks on his/ her honour and reputation’ (Art. 16)

• Sexual exploitation

• Child abuse images

• Child trafficking• Threats to

privacy• Pornography• Personal data

exploitation• Hostility, hate,

bullying • Self-harm,

suicide, pro-anorexia

•Dignity must be respected, protected, fulfilled online

•Privacy, freedom from surveillance & censorship and the right to online anonymity

•Control over personal data collection, retention, processing, disposal and disclosure

•Protection against harassment, crime, defamation, hate (& for children, sexual exploitation)

•Children must be free to use the internet and be protected from its dangers, depending on capabilities

Provision to support children’s rights to life and development (Art.6), his or her identity (Art. 8), an education to support the development of their full potential (Art. 28) and prepare them ‘for responsible life in a free society’ (Art. 29), to recreation and leisure appropriate to their age (Art. 31), to diverse material of social and cultural benefit to the child to promote children’s well-being (Art. 17) and measures for recovery from neglect, exploitation or abuse (Art.39)

• Learning resources

• Wealth of information

• Creativity & expression

• Digital literacies

• Ways to counter inequalities

• Expanded entertainment

• Access to own culture

•Life, liberty and security•Access and use of a secure and open internet, incl. addressing specific needs of disadvantaged groups

•Cultural and linguistic diversity on the internet must be promoted and innovation should be encouraged to facilitate plurality of expression

•Education through the internet, to culture and knowledge online

Participation: ‘In all actions concerning children the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’ (Art. 3), incl. the right of children to be consulted in all matters affecting them (Art. 12), to freedom of expression (Art. 13) , freedom of thought (Art.14), of association and assembly (Art. 15), to information (Art.17) and to participate in cultural life (Art.31)

• Enhanced networking

• Ways of consulting children

• Fora for child voice

• Child-led initiatives

• P2p sharing• Recognition of

rights

•The internet is a space for promotion, protection and fulfilment of human rights & advancing social justice

•Seek, receive and impart information freely, and to associate freely with others for social, political and cultural purposes

Questions?